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bladelikesbooks's reviews
201 reviews
Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
In this book - partially a collection of poems, partially interview answers - Abu Toha tells us of his personal life experience from a young age to present times.
Abu Toha’s writing is very beautiful and incredibly easy to follow (which i greatly appreciate). His writing show his faily life living in refugee camps in Gaza and the true horror of it, while also showing the beauty of his country, community, and religion.
I really enjoyed the interview protion of this book as i was able to understang his use of poetry better. Abu Toha’s has lived through so many attacks from Israel that he just cobsiders it a part of his daily routine which is so horrifying and sad.
I think this collection gives such good insight into daily life in Gaza and generational trauma. If you’re looking to learn more about the Palestinian people’s experienced of life in Gaza, or you’re looking into poetry that’s easy to follow, definitely check out this book:))
TWs - Blood; Body Horror; Bombing; Child Death (Graphic); Colonisation; Corpses; Covid; Death; Ethnic Cleansing; Genocide; Grief; Loss Of A Loved One; Medical Content; Medical Trauma; Murder; Violence; War
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Medical content and Medical trauma
Tamlin by Aven Wildsmith
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Minor: Blood, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Pride Families by Amie Taylor
I think this was a lovely introduction to the queer community for children and I like that parents were included with their own section so that a parent and their child can learn together. The illustrations were really pretty and very inclusive and diverse. I’d love to buy some prints from the illustrator. I appreciate the normalisation of pregnant trans men, i’m so happy that was included!
The only thing that knocked my rating down a bit was the definitions of the sexualites. These definitions are constantly evolving so i get that it can be tricky to define them like this but, especially with the lesbian one, it doesn’t just include women anymore. There are many nonbinary and genderqueer people who identify as lesbian, me included.
Rep - Amputee; Asexual; Autism; Bisexual; Black; Cane User; Gay; Intersex; Lesbian; Muslim; NonBinary; POC; Poly Relationships; Portugese; Plus Size; Prosthetic leg; Queer; South Asian; Transgender; Vitiligo; Wheelchair User
4.0
An introductory guide to queer identities, the many different dynamics of a queer family and queer terminology.
I think this was a lovely introduction to the queer community for children and I like that parents were included with their own section so that a parent and their child can learn together. The illustrations were really pretty and very inclusive and diverse. I’d love to buy some prints from the illustrator. I appreciate the normalisation of pregnant trans men, i’m so happy that was included!
The only thing that knocked my rating down a bit was the definitions of the sexualites. These definitions are constantly evolving so i get that it can be tricky to define them like this but, especially with the lesbian one, it doesn’t just include women anymore. There are many nonbinary and genderqueer people who identify as lesbian, me included.
Rep - Amputee; Asexual; Autism; Bisexual; Black; Cane User; Gay; Intersex; Lesbian; Muslim; NonBinary; POC; Poly Relationships; Portugese; Plus Size; Prosthetic leg; Queer; South Asian; Transgender; Vitiligo; Wheelchair User
Brittle by Beth Overmyer
TWs/CWs - Ableism; Blood; Force feeding; Murder; War (mentioned)
*my list of trigger warnings only includes what I read in the first 5% so please check other reviews of peiple who have finished it for a full list of trigger warnings*
0.0
I DNF’d this at 5% The author used very ableist language to refer to the main character. A simple google search will tell you that using the term ‘inv*lid’ is deeply ableist and it was completely unnecessary and should have been taken out during the editing process. I don’t knoe if the author continues to use ableist language but i’m not going to continue reading just to find that out.
TWs/CWs - Ableism; Blood; Force feeding; Murder; War (mentioned)
*my list of trigger warnings only includes what I read in the first 5% so please check other reviews of peiple who have finished it for a full list of trigger warnings*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: War
Secrets of the Vampire: A Supernatural Sourcebook of Our Legend and Lore by Elsa Whyte, Julie Légère
I’ve always found Vampires to be very beautiful and interesting creatures but have only read or watched them in fantasy media. I have learnt so much about vampire lore and origins while reading this and will definitely be researching many of the cultures, mythology and media mentioned throughout this book.
The illustrations in this book were so beautiful and were so well done, I will definitely be supporting the illustrator from now on and checking out their other works.
I think this book is an excellent introduction to learning about vampiric lore and history and it is so incredibly researched and gives such in-depth information about vampire origins in just 77 pages. I hope this author has other works that I can check out and if not, I will look forward to their future releases. I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this once it is published.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is completely my honest opinions of this book.
TWs/CWs - Animal Sacrifice; Blood; Body Horror; Buried Alive; Cannibalism; Child Death; Death; Epidemics; Fire/Fire Injury; Infidelity; Mind Control; Miscarriage (mentioned); Self Cannibalisation; Suicide; Xenophobia (discussed)
5.0
Narrated by a vampire, this book is set out like an academic non-fiction piece that chronologically catalogs the influences, origins and evolutions of vampire lore with focuses of many iconic vampire medias such as Carmilla, Dracula and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It is also beautifully illustrated.
I’ve always found Vampires to be very beautiful and interesting creatures but have only read or watched them in fantasy media. I have learnt so much about vampire lore and origins while reading this and will definitely be researching many of the cultures, mythology and media mentioned throughout this book.
The illustrations in this book were so beautiful and were so well done, I will definitely be supporting the illustrator from now on and checking out their other works.
I think this book is an excellent introduction to learning about vampiric lore and history and it is so incredibly researched and gives such in-depth information about vampire origins in just 77 pages. I hope this author has other works that I can check out and if not, I will look forward to their future releases. I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this once it is published.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is completely my honest opinions of this book.
TWs/CWs - Animal Sacrifice; Blood; Body Horror; Buried Alive; Cannibalism; Child Death; Death; Epidemics; Fire/Fire Injury; Infidelity; Mind Control; Miscarriage (mentioned); Self Cannibalisation; Suicide; Xenophobia (discussed)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Infidelity, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Miscarriage and Xenophobia